DLG (German Agricultural Society) has announced the Innovation Award EuroTier 2026 winners. According to the official winners page, 175 innovations were recognised by the independent DLG Innovation Commission, with four Gold Medals and 26 Silver Medals. For livestock technology buyers, the more useful signal is not the medal count but what the winning systems share: almost all of them produce continuous, animal-level data — and that data is only usable when it can be attributed to a specific animal.
This article summarises the official winners list, flags one discrepancy in the organiser’s own published figures, and turns the award results into a short specification checklist for identification hardware. It is an independent industry reading, not an exhibitor announcement and not a claim of involvement in the awards.
The official numbers, and one discrepancy worth noting
| Source on eurotier.com | What it states |
|---|---|
| Official winners page (Innovation Award 2026) | “175 innovations were recognized by the independent DLG Innovation Commission, with four receiving Gold Medals and 26 Silver Medals”; two innovations additionally received the special distinction “Animal Welfare Award” |
| EuroTier homepage, awards teaser | “Four gold and 27 silver medals” |
| Winners page, award cycle | The EuroTier Innovation Award is handed to winners at the show every two years |
Accuracy note: the two official pages differ by one silver medal (26 versus 27). We have not found an official correction, so we quote both rather than choose one. This article follows the winners page, which lists 26 silver awards, and deliberately avoids putting a medal count in the headline. The winners page does not name which two innovations received the Animal Welfare Award distinction.
The four Gold Medal winners
| Company (as listed by DLG) | Innovation | What the official description says |
|---|---|---|
| Lock GmbH SmartSolutions (joint development with smaXtec GmbH) | SmartCalving | Links animal monitoring, climate data and barn technology. If sensors recognise that calving is imminent, the barn climate is adjusted and additional measures are initiated independently. |
| PerformaNat GmbH | PerformaNat CatiBovin | A feed supplement mixed into the TMR; phytogenic active ingredients activate TRP channels in the rumen to improve nitrogen and calcium uptake, feed efficiency and reduce nutrient losses and ammonia emissions. |
| Peter Prinzing GmbH | Pig-Barn-Cleaner | An autonomous, fully automatic system that cleans localised pen areas: a partition wall gently moves pigs aside, then a radial brush system collects and removes manure. |
| WEDA Dammann & Westerkamp GmbH (joint development with VetVise GmbH) | Smart Farrowing Pen: AI-supported animal welfare analysis and adaptive barn control | Combines AI-supported analysis of sow and piglet behaviour with automated barn and feeding technology; control variables such as piglet nest temperature or feed curve are adjusted autonomously on real-time data. |
Silver Medal systems built on individual-animal data
The silver list is long. The following entries are quoted from the official winners page because they illustrate the same dependency on a reliable animal identity:
- NEDAP — Nedap SmartSight: the official text notes that modern dairy farms already use sensor systems for animal health, but that continuous movement-behaviour analysis is still often limited to pedometers, leaving farmers dependent on manual visual observation.
- CowManager GmbH — CowManager milk sensor: records conductivity, milk temperature, vacuum pressure drops and milk flow at quarter level, indicating mastitis per quarter; AI combines milk and behavioural data into practical warning messages.
- MSD Tiergesundheit — SenseHub® Dairy Milk Monitoring: determines animal and udder health parameters alongside milk contents during regular milk testing.
- WEDA Dammann & Westerkamp GmbH — PigTail: AI-based curly tail detection and digital herd monitoring at the sorting station, addressing a task the official text describes as time-consuming and error-prone when done manually.
- Lely International N.V. — Lely Zeta AI calving: camera-supported monitoring of the calving process, where intervention timing matters.
- Obuda University — RoBooVaxx robotic cow vaccination system: the official description notes that the operator must currently find a suitable injection site on each individual animal.
- MS Schippers GmbH — MS Smart Cleaning Robot e VetVise GmbH — BarnBuddy: the latter addresses the problem that central knowledge about a barn tends to sit with the farm manager, alongside data from feeding and climate computers.
None of these are RFID products, and this article does not claim that any winning system uses RFIDHY components. They are cited because the award list is a useful, verifiable snapshot of where livestock technology investment is going.
The common dependency: an identity layer
Cameras, robots and sensors are good at answering what happened e Quando. Farm software needs which animal. A quarter-level mastitis alert, a vaccination event, a sorting decision and a feed-curve adjustment all become useless — or worse, actively misleading — if the event is written to the wrong record.
Le 2026 guiding theme “Intelligence in animal farming” describes barn, alimentazione f, milking and logistics technology connected with robotics, sensor technology, AI and big data. Our companion article on RFID animal identification at EuroTier 2026 sets out why identification is the first layer of that stack rather than the last. Put simply: analytics can be upgraded later; an identification scheme chosen badly at tagging time is expensive to reverse across a whole herd.
For official individual identification, RFID ear tags built around 134.2 kHz LF (ISO 11784 / 11785, FDX-B) remain the common baseline in many regulated markets. Where automated, higher-throughput reading is needed, UHF is evaluated instead. The full range of livestock and pet identification solutions covers both cases.
A four-point specification checklist for sensor buyers
- Define the identity granularity first. Individual animal, Penna, batch or quarter? Camera-based systems often infer identity; a physical tag makes it explicit and auditable.
- Map every reading point. List where an ID is captured — gate, chute, milking parlour, sorting station, robot — and check that timestamps and animal records can be reconciled across systems.
- Ask for standards evidence. Request conformance documentation, retention and read-rate test data, and certification evidence such as our ICAR certification for animal ear tags. Claims without documentation are difficult to defend in an export audit.
- Pilot before scaling. Our guide on how to deploy RFID on your farm describes a phased rollout; test one controlled reading point, then expand.
For health-oriented projects, FDX temperature-sensing animal microchips show how identity and a physiological measurement can be captured in the same read — the same architectural idea that makes the award-winning monitoring systems valuable.
Related RFIDHY resources
- RFID Animal Identification at EuroTier 2026 — the main guide to the identification layer.
- UHF RFID prende orecchio Tag lettura al livello successivo — gate and pen-level bulk reading.
- What Are Animal RFID Tags? — primer on tag types and coding.
Domande frequenti
How many Innovation Award medals were awarded at EuroTier 2026?
The official winners page states 175 innovations were recognised by the independent DLG Innovation Commission, with four Gold Medals and 26 Silver Medals. The EuroTier homepage describes the result as four gold and 27 silver medals. The one-medal difference is not explained on either page, so both figures are reported here.
Who evaluates the EuroTier Innovation Award?
The official winners page credits the independent DLG Innovation Commission. DLG (German Agricultural Society) announces the winners, and the award is presented at the show every two years.
Which innovations won gold?
SmartCalving (Lock GmbH SmartSolutions with smaXtec), PerformaNat CatiBovin (PerformaNat), Pig-Barn-Cleaner (Peter Prinzing) and the Smart Farrowing Pen (WEDA Dammann & Westerkamp with VetVise).
Are the winning systems RFID products?
No. They span sensor platforms, barn robotics, AI analysis, feed additives and cleaning systems. RFIDHY is not claiming that any awarded product uses its components, nor that RFIDHY participated in the awards.
Why does an animal ID layer matter for AI and robotics?
Because every event — a health alert, a vaccination, a sorting decision — must be attached to the correct animal record. A stable, machine-readable identity is what makes sensor output trustworthy downstream.
Where can I verify the winners list?
On the official EuroTier website, under Awards → Innovation Award → Winners 2026 (linked in Sources below).
Plan your identification layer
RFIDHY supplies RFID ear tags, animal microchips and compatible readers for integrators and distributors, and supports OEM/ODM specifications. Contact our team for samples, certification documents and a frequency recommendation for your market.
Sources
- DLG — Innovation Award EuroTier 2026 winners
- EuroTier official homepage — EuroTier 2026
- EuroTier 2026 guiding theme: Intelligence in animal farming
Publisher’s note: company names, product names and award descriptions are quoted or paraphrased from the official EuroTier winners page on 11 Novembre 2026. This is an independent technical commentary by RFIDHY, not an exhibitor announcement, not an award claim and not a statement of partnership with any listed company. Standards and frequency information is general selection guidance; confirm regulatory requirements for your market before purchase.
